Ron Paul Campaign Gets Bachmann Cochairman’s Backing

In a blow to Rep. Michele Bachmann’s already-sagging Iowa campaign, her state cochairman there said on Wednesday that he is switching his support to Rep. Ron Paul.

“There is a clear top tier in the race for the Republican nomination for President, both here in Iowa and nationally,” said Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson in a statement. “Ron Paul is easily the most conservative of this group.”

Sorenson also said that Paul is “the only candidate to predict the current mess we find ourselves in economically, and he's the only candidate to offer a true plan to cut spending and balance our budget. He's also consistently spoken out against government spending, assaults on individual liberties, and unnecessary trillion-dollar military adventurism for over 30 years.”

A CNN poll on Wednesday showed Paul in second place behind Mitt Romney in Iowa, while Bachmann was behind every other GOP candidate except Jon Huntsman.

Bachmann said in response that Sorenson's decision was a "deliberate move by the Ron Paul campaign to discredit our campaign and our growing momentum. Ron Paul is in trouble in Iowa and his campaign is worried about people learning about his dangerous stance on foreign policy and how he will make America less safe."

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The Minnesota congresswoman also accused Sorenson of defecting for financial reasons. “Kent Sorenson personally told me he was offered a large sum of money to go to work for the Paul campaign," she said.